66 Floriculhiral and Botanical Notices, 



XCVI. Hutdceee. 



1311. ERIOSTE^MON. 



gracilis Grah. graceful H-|_Jprl?jl? Li N.Holl. 1831. C p.l 



A " rather graceful little shrub, with pendulous, twiggy, very leafy branches;" 

 leaf two lines long, fleshy, semicylindrical ; flowers ten lines across, terminal, 

 solitary, freely produced. The whole herbage has a resinous perfume. E. gra- 

 cilis is possessed by Mr. Cunningham, Comely Bank Nursery, Edinburgh. 

 (Dr. Graham, in Jameson's Phil. Journ., January, 1834.) 



CXXIII. Oxalidece. O'xalis crenata (IX. 618.) will never answer for 

 general culture. One of my plants was in flower as early as the middle of 

 July. The plant is now 12 ft. in circumference : it was cut down, last week, 

 with the frost. I put my spade under it, and did not perceive a tuber. I 

 have taken up several plants that I struck from cuttings, and have found 

 nothing but fibres. — J. D., sen. Waterbeach, near Cambridge, Oct. 17. 1833. 



Mr. D. Beaton, gardener to W. Gordon, Esq., of Haffield, near Ledbury, 

 Herefordshire, in a letter to Dr. Hamilton, Plymouth, on Oct. 4., states that 

 he has " ascertained that the succulent stems of the O. crenata are an excel 

 lent substitute for rhubarb in tarts ; and agreeable, with full one third less of 

 sugar than rhubarb requires, to the most fastidious palate." Also, that it, 

 " when boiled with water till quite soft, and, after the water has been drained 

 off) beaten up with new milk, makes an excellent dish for children, who, in 

 general, appear very fond of it in that state." Mr. Beaton farther states that 

 the herbage of O. crenata, which is produced in prodigious abundance in 

 light deep soils, is a superior green fodder for cattle in summer. " Cows, 

 horses, and pigs eat it with avidity, after it has been given them two or 

 three times : cows do not acquire a relish for it so readily as the others. The 

 more the plant is cut, the more it grows." 



Mr. Maund, in his Botanic Garden for January, has published a figure of 

 O. crenata, and offers numerous remarks in relation to it. We quote some of 

 them: — " Its stems are tender, succulent, and admirably suited to the pur- 

 pose of yielding a grateful acidity to salads [as suggested in IX. 618.]; as well as 

 forming a delicious tart, which,probably, no one but ourselves has tried." [Mr. 

 Beaton has, as is shown above. See, also, in p. 87.] Our next quotation, in 

 part, answers the question suggested by Dr. Hamilton, in IX. 618. : — " We 

 have boiled the tubers, and find them to be quite as agreeable as the potato : 

 so similar, that they may be eaten without the difference being observed. When 

 roasted, they indicate a deficiency of farinaceous substance ; therefore, to give 

 the comparison of nutritive matter contained in the potato and oxalis some 

 decided shape, we have separated the starch and gluten from a like weight of 

 each. We find that one avoirdupois ounce of oxalis produces 42 grains ; 

 whilst 1 oz. of potato, similarly treated, produces 106 grains." Mr. Maund 

 has tried various modes of cultivating the plant. In the course and issue of 

 these, he has noticed that stems, allowed to recline on the earth, have emitted 

 tubers from their under side; and that others, about which a little earth had 

 been drawn, have produced an increased proportion of tubers. He has 

 accordingly suggested that the mode of culture which will induce the greatest 

 productiveness may consist in laying the stems, and covering them to a shal- 

 low depth " with light rich mould, as they proceed in growth, leaving only, 

 perhaps, 6 in. of the end of each shoot out of the soil; or, as no emission of 

 tubers takes place till late in summer, the stems may remain spread out on 

 the surface of the bed, in all directions, till about August ; and then receive 

 a covering of 2 in. thick of light compost, nearly to the ends of the stems. . . . 

 Every stem is capable of being made productive." Mr. Maund states that 

 " Mr. Cameron has observed some of the tubers of O. crenata exposed to 

 frosts ; notwithstanding which, they vegetated in the spring." 



CXXIX. Uneas. 

 921. zrNTJM. 

 412<z Cumingi B. C. Cuming's H i_J or | su Y Chile 1830. C p.l Bot. cab. 1996 



